No. 24: Wayzata (MN)
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Analysis: Always a perennial powerhouse in Minnesota, the Wayzata girls return their top six runners from last year's Minnesota State XC Championships in Jazleen Malherek-Osorio, Miley Clark, Aubrey Smith, Alyson Kleyman, Chloe Kissell and Julia Link after winning the Minnesota state title with 48 points, a dominant 72 points ahead of the runner-up team.
That same group of six also competed at the NXR Heartland Regional where they won the meet and a berth to Nike Cross Nationals over Olathe West by 22 points, showing a strong 18:23 average and a 61-second split. At Nike Cross Nationals, they finished 20th out of 22 teams. With their whole top 6 runners coming back this season, one would expect them to take another leap with four of their top six from last season being underclassmen.
A big boost to their team this year will be junior Maddie Gullickson who sat out the 2023 cross country season. Gullickson when we last saw her on the cross country course in 2022, finished 63rd at Nike Cross Nationals and owns a PR of 18:15. Gullickson recently led the Wayzata girls to a dominant 41-point win to start their season off, with Gullickson finishing second overall and the team owning a 19:16 average.
COROS MILESPLIT50
PRESEASON GIRLS TEAM RANKINGS
*Click on the teams below for analysis
RANK | Team |
|---|---|
| 25 | Champlain Valley Union (Vt.) |
| 24 | Wayzata (Minn.) |
| 23 | Flower Mound (Tex.) |
| 22 | Saratoga Springs (N.Y.) |
| 21 | Timpview (Utah) |
| 20 | Jesuit Portland (Ore.) |
| 19 | East Aurora (N.Y.) |
| 18 | Brentwood (Tenn.) |
| 17 | Lincoln (Ore.) |
| 16 | Downers Grove North (Ill.) |
| 15 | Webb School (Knoxville, Tenn.) |
| 14 | Union Catholic Reg (N.J.) |
| 13 | Barrington (Ill.) |
| 12 | Romeo (Mich.) |
| 11 | Ventura (Calif.) |
| 10 | Lone Peak (Utah) |
| 9 | Bethlehem (N.Y.) |
| 8 | Santiago Corona (Calif.) |
| 7 | Cardinal Gibbons (N.C.) |
| 6 | JSerra Catholic (Calif.) |
| 5 | Trabuco Hills (Calif.) |
| 4 | Niwot (Colo.) |
| 3 | Buchanan (Calif.) |
| 2 | Mountain Vista (Colo.) |
| 1 | Air Academy (Colo.) |